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F1 Race recap: 2016 Russian Grand Prix same as it ever was

The three-year-old Sochi Autodrom that hosts the Russian Grand Prix combines beautiful scenery with a hallmark turn 3, a tricky turn 13, and two long DRS zones. So far, however, those haven't added up to exciting races after the first lap. Despite an in-race issue with his car's MGU-K, Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg aced the weekend with his first career grand slam: pole position, fastest lap of the race, leading every lap, and victory. Behind him, not much happened on the leaderboard after an incident-filled opening lap. The drama started at turns 2 and 3. Ferrari driver Sebastian Vettel lined up in seventh on the grid because of a five-place gearbox penalty, Red Bull's Daniil Kvyat sat next to him in eighth. Kvyat hit the back of Vettel's Ferrari in the braking zone for Turn 2, shoving Vettel into Daniel Ricciardo – Kvyat's teammate. Kyvat then clobbered the back of Vettel's car at the entry to Turn 3, spinning the German into the wall and out of the race. Kvyat probably regrets saying before the race that he would show Vettel "no mercy" on the first lap. At the back of the grid at Turn 2, Haas F1's Esteban Gutierrez hit Force India's Nico Hulkenberg and Manor's Rio Haryanto. Gutierrez continued, both the Force India and the Manor retired. A brief Virtual Safety Car period ensued, then the actual Safety Car emerged for three laps while marshals cleaned up the track. Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Nico Rosberg nailed the restart and took off for the rest of the race. Teammate Lewis Hamilton battled his own gremlins all weekend but still finished second, 25 seconds behind Rosberg. During the final qualifying session on Saturday Hamilton's car suffered the same MGU-H failure as in China two weeks ago. The problem relegated him to tenth on the grid. In the race, Hamilton fought his way to second place by Lap 19 out of 53 laps and began closing the 13-second gap to Rosberg. On Lap 37, the gap now under eight seconds, Mercedes told Hamilton his car had a water pressure issue. The malfunction forced the Briton to manage his race and settle for second. Afterward, Hamilton said he was certain he could have won if not for the malfunction. The rest of the top ten barely changed throughout the contest. The first five positions on Lap 21 crossed the finish line in that order 32 laps later. Ferrari's Kimi Raikkonen took the final podium position ahead of the Williams duo of Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa.

Indy not trying to 'poach' F1 drivers after Alonso

More Formula One drivers may have the Indianapolis 500 on their radar after double world champion Fernando Alonso makes his debut in this year's race, IndyCar boss Mark Miles said on Friday. He added, however, that there was no concerted effort to enlist their services. "I don't think it's a strategy for us," said the Hulman & Co president and chief executive. "I think it (Alonso's decision to compete) was a unique set of circumstances in so many respects so we're not going to be following the grand prix series around and trying to poach drivers. "I think more drivers will pay more attention to it and we'll see what happens. There may be points in their careers where we make some sense. It's not a strategy per se." McLaren driver Alonso is skipping the showcase Monaco Grand Prix to compete on the same day in Indiana as part of his bid to become only the second man to win the famed 'Triple Crown' of motorsport. The move has been helped by McLaren's poor performance in Formula One, a desire for some positive headlines and also to keep the Spaniard happy with his contract expiring at the end of the season. He will be the sixth driver to compete in the Indy 500 after winning a Formula One championship, with the late Graham Hill the only man to have won the F1 title, Indianapolis and Le Mans 24 Hours race. This year's field will include several ex-Formula One drivers, including Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya who won the Indy 500 in 2000. Alonso's involvement has created a significant buzz, with more than two million watching a live stream of his first drive in the Andretti Autosport car at Indianapolis this week. Miles said Spanish IndyCar driver Oriol Servia had called him after the announcement of Alonso's move to say he had woken in Los Angeles to 60 messages from Spanish reporters seeking reaction. That had triggered a decision to travel to Europe and hold a series of media briefings about the 500 and IndyCar series. The return of McLaren, after a 38-year absence, and Alonso's presence was not expected to translate into any immediate economic windfall with last year's race a 350,000 sellout anyway. But it had raised Alonso's name recognition in the United States and Formula One's profile while taking IndyCar to new audiences.

Sunday Drive: Still thankful for supercars

The Thanksgiving holiday meant that last week was pretty short on stories, but apparently our readers are still thankful for supercars. The biggest news of the week was the new Aston Martin Vantage, which is clothed in a new look that Autoblog readers are still very much unsure of. It's a radical departure from past Aston Martin models, and while everyone seems to agree that the profile is lovely, the squinty headlamps are a particular source of contention. Its 503 horsepower and 512 pound-feet of torque cannot be argued with ... oh, and a V12 may be coming soon. Moving along is a nearly new 2006 Ford GT for sale that's expected to fetch around $300,000 at auction. It's so unused that it still has plastic wrap covering the leather interior. The Ango-American theme continues with the McLaren 720S, though not in road-going form. Still, renderings of the upcoming 720S GT3 racer round out this supercar-rich recap. As always, stay tuned to Autoblog for all the latest automotive news that's fit to print. All-new Aston Martin Vantage turns up the volume This 10.8-mile Ford GT could be yours McLaren 720S GT3 race car shown off in renderings Aston Martin Ford McLaren Coupe Luxury Racing Vehicles Performance Supercars aston martin vantage recap sunday drive